1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telematics on-board units for vehicles including data collection means for collecting vehicle usage data, data transmission means for transmitting collected vehicle usage data and/or analyzed vehicle usage data derived therefrom, to a telematics service platform and driver identification means for identifying a driver using the vehicle and providing a driver identification. The invention further relates to the telematics service platform having communication means for communicating with the driver identification means of the on-board unit mounted in the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telematics on-board units are used for collecting vehicle usage data such as vehicle speed, mileage, travel routes or accelerations of the vehicle to be able to characterize the vehicle's use what in turn may be used by the telematics service platform to initiate or control certain service functions such as service/maintenance routines, emergency/accident calls, theft monitoring and car tracking, or risk assessment for determining insurance premiums. For some of those services, it is desired to know who was the driver when collecting the respective data so the collected and/or analyzed data can be associated with different drivers using the vehicle. For example, antitheft services need to differentiate if it is an authorized person or not who uses the vehicle.
Furthermore, for emergency assistance, it is helpful to know who is the driver to be able to prepare medical services depending on individual parameters such as age, blood group, personal handicaps etc. Furthermore, for risk assessment of insurance companies it is also helpful to know who is the driver to be able to calculate the insurance premium individually for the respective driver. On the other hand, extensive data transmission between the telematics on-board unit and the telematics service platform is in conflict with the requirement of privacy and data security.
It is desirable to reduce the amount of data transmitted between the on-board unit and the telematics service platform as far as possible, not only because of privacy and data security, but also because of transmission costs and required bandwidth of the equipment.
EP 0700009 B1 discloses a system for individual evaluation of motor vehicle risk including an on-board unit having data collection means for collecting vehicle usage data including acceleration of the vehicle in all three dimensions, speed of the vehicle and time periods in which the acceleration and speed values occurred. The collected data are transmitted to a data network when the vehicle is at a gasoline station. However, such system transmits lots of data. On the other hand, the system is not able to individualize the collected data and to differentiate the collected data for different drivers.
Furthermore, EP 12 41 599 A1 discloses a monitoring system for determining real time insurance costs, the system including an external information gathering device which may gather environmental information relating to a vehicle such as time, weather information or street conditions, and an internal information gathering device that may gather internal information relating to the vehicle such as the current mode of usage, the position, speed and acceleration of the vehicle. The system adjusts the insurance fee in response to the detected external and internal information.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,020 B2 discloses a driving record monitoring system using a monitoring device located in the motor vehicle, wherein the monitoring device is coupled to a navigation system determining the location of the vehicle, and to a wireless modem capable of connecting to a wireless communication network. A central computer receives information from the monitoring device as it travels in a specific region covered by the wireless communication network, wherein the central computer uses ancillary databases containing roadway information for the region in which the vehicle is traveling, route information and traffic pattern information. The collected and analyzed data are forwarded to an insurance company that assesses the risk and consequently the insurance fee on the basis of the amount of driving, the driving routes, the time of driving and the safety sensor information. However, such system does not provide for any driver identification and does not allow for individual telematics services specifically adapted to different drivers.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved on-board unit for vehicles of the type mentioned at the beginning wherein disadvantages of the prior art are avoided and the prior art is further developed in an advantageous manner. In particular, the on-board unit should allow easy and quick installation in the vehicle's driver compartment and provide for a more reliable driver identification even under difficult, noisy environmental conditions with less data traffic between the on-board unit and the telematics service platform.